Key Takeaways
- PowerPoint Design Ideas gives automatic layout suggestions for slides.
- It can help improve slides quickly, but it may also be distracting.
- You can turn it off from File > Options > General.
- Turning it off does not change your existing slides.
- You can still design slides manually using templates, Slide Master, SmartArt, and themes.
Table of Contents
What are PowerPoint Ideas?
PowerPoint Design Ideas is an automatic design suggestion tool built into Microsoft PowerPoint. When you add text, images, charts, or other elements to a slide, PowerPoint may open a panel on the right side of the screen with different layout suggestions.
For example, if you insert a picture, PowerPoint may suggest a full-slide image layout with text placed on top. If you add bullet points, it may suggest converting them into icons or a SmartArt-style design.
Even though this feature is very useful, it can be distracting.
How to Turn Off Design Ideas
STEP 1: Click on the “File” tab > “Options” > “General” submenu.
STEP 2: Once disabled, click ‘OK’.
It is important to note that turning off Design Ideas will not remove any design already added to your slides. Your slides will stay the same. It only stops PowerPoint from showing new design suggestions automatically. You can still open Design Ideas manually from the Design tab whenever you need it.
Tips & Tricks
Alternatives to Design Ideas
- You can choose from the built-in templates available in PowerPoint ot you can download professional templates online.
- You can use the Slide Master when you want the same design across all slides.
- You can also use SmartArt for charts, diagrams, and processes.
Change Automatic Features
- You can change the spelling checks, saving options, and file formats from the PowerPoint menu.
- You can also customize the Quick Access Toolbar. This offers quick access to your most-used tools right at the top of the window.
Even with automatic design ideas turned off, you can still use it manually on specific slides for a touch of AI-driven inspiration when needed.
You can also check the Advanced settings to control how text, images, and other objects work on your slides.
FAQs
How to permanently disable design ideas in PowerPoint?
To permanently disable Design Ideas in PowerPoint,
- Go to ‘File’ > ‘Options.’
- Select the ‘General’ tab.
- Under ‘PowerPoint Designer,‘ uncheck ‘Automatically show me design ideas’
- Uncheck ‘Automatically show me suggestions when I create a new presentation.’
- Click ‘OK’ to save the changes.
Can I turn off design ideas for specific slides only?
No, PowerPoint does not provide an option to disable Design Ideas for specific slides individually. The feature is controlled globally through the PowerPoint options menu.
John Michaloudis is a former accountant and finance analyst at General Electric, a Microsoft MVP since 2020, an Amazon #1 bestselling author of 4 Microsoft Excel books and teacher of Microsoft Excel & Office over at his flagship MyExcelOnline Academy Online Course.



